Miscommunication
by eskalations
Summary: How he had gotten stuck sitting with the new girl in the lonely library during lunch was beyond him.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This was given as a prompt to me on Tumblr. I changed it a bit BUT OH MY GOD I LOVE IT. THANK YOU KIND ANON FOR TASKING ME WITH THIS.

* * *

><p>"So…what do you like to do for fun?"<p>

The girl in question was silent, her only acknowledgment of his question coming in the form of a slight shrug of her shoulders. Kai breathed a heavy sigh, sitting back in his chair.

"Do you like to write?"

The twelve-year-old pursed her lips, lifting her brows in indifference to the hobby.

"Yeah," Kai remarked dryly, tossing his feet on top of the table and tipping the library chair back, "I don't really like to write either."

How he had gotten stuck sitting with the new girl in the lonely library during lunch was beyond him. The librarian claimed he had been swiping coins from the printing jar that sat on the desk by the computers, but as far as he was concerned, she had no solid proof. Of course he had done it, but he was too good to get caught.

Regardless of whether he had been caught or not though, he was doing the time for his "crime."

He supposed the librarian had meant for him to sit alone, but once he spotted the new girl in the 6th grade class walking in, he decided to acquaint himself with her. She was decent looking with short brown hair that barely reached her shoulders and wide doe-like eyes that followed every movement he made. He figured she wouldn't make bad company.

The only problem was she wouldn't make a sound in response to him.

She had been at the school a mere three days and after experiencing several classes with her, Kai couldn't remember a time in which he had heard her speak. He saw the teachers approach her after class and give her extra sheets of notes but other than a slight nod of her head, she never gave them much acknowledgment.

_'Maybe she's just shy'_, Kai reasoned, pursing his lips and rocking his chair back into place.

"So," It seemed like that was going to be his go-to word from then on out, "Have you made any friends here?"

The girl squinted at him, watching his mouth closely. By the end of his question, she seemed to know where he was going.

With a sad shake of her head, the girl's gaze dropped to the table.

Kai coughed awkwardly into his hand. The librarian noticed that he had taken a seat next to the young girl, but her aged face didn't contort into anger like he expected. She looked almost sad.

"Here, Jinora," The woman spoke softly to the girl, but Kai had a sneaking suspicion she dropped the name in there for him. A handful of books were passed to the girl, several titles that he couldn't even imagine pronouncing stacked a top one another and placed on the table. It was the first time he had seen the new girl smile.

Before she walked away from the table, the librarian passed him a small pamphlet. It was only a few pages long but the title and subject matter that was listed on the front stood out to him.

"ASL?" Kai wondered aloud, his dark brows furrowing, "American Sign Language?"

Then it hit him.

"Oh!" His voice was loud, though the librarian didn't move to scold him at the sound of his revelation. She was just glad he had caught on.

His green gaze fell on the girl sitting across from him at the table, her fingers lightly tapping each binding of the books stacked up in front of her. She hadn't even heard his exclamation.

_'She's deaf,'_ Suddenly it all made sense to him.

One tanned hand dug into his backpack, fingers skimming over several binders and folders filled with crumpled paper. Pulling out one of his notebooks, the boy ripped out a sheet of paper.

Jinora caught the boy's sudden movement, her eyes following his hand as he reached back into his bag for a pen and began to write.

_I'm Kai! _The boy wrote on the first line, proudly sliding the paper over in her direction and passing the pen along with it.

Jinora eyed the words for a moment before rolling her lips inward an indication of mirth. A moment later she was gripping the pen and responding back.

_I know._

Kai quirked a brow.

_How?_

Jinora took the pen from him once again, the tip scrapping loudly against the paper before it came to rest in his own palm.

_I can read your lips. You told me your name earlier._

Kai's eyes squinted, his expression dubious as he formed a reply.

_Then why were you acting like you couldn't understand me._

Jinora paused for a moment, thinking carefully before answering and passing the paper back to him.

_It's easier that way._

Kai glanced sadly at her, but the girl smiled in reassurance. Taking the paper back, Jinora added on to her comment.

_I'm working with a speech therapist so I can't respond to questions properly even though I know what you are saying._

The boy read over her response, his shoulders falling forward in sympathy. Here he thought she was just weird and all along she just couldn't hear.

_If you can read my lips, do I need to be responding on paper?_

The girl laughed at his question, shaking her head.

"Cool," He remarked, his voice sounding strange to him after being quiet so long. Lunch would be over soon but he wanted to know more about the new girl sitting with him. He held up the pamphlet drawing her eyes to the flimsy paper.

_"Do you use ASL?"_

Jinora shrugged, taking a hold of the pen and writing out a full answer.

_Sometimes. Most people can't understand me though when I use it._

"Do you think you could teach me?"

The girl laughed, her soft giggle sending a thrill up his spine. He ignored it though; he just was interested in this girl's story. Surely it had nothing to do with the girl herself.

Raising her brows, the girl wrote out her reply.

_I think it's a bit more complicated than that._

"I can take a challenge," Kai responded confidently, puffing his chest out for emphasis. "I'm sure you could teach me a few things."

Jinora shrugged, but the smile didn't leave her face.

A bell rang through the silence of library, signaling the end of lunch. Kai hopped up excitedly, standing by the table as his new friend took the hint from him and gathered her stuff. After all, they did have a class together after this.

"You're going to like Mr. Sho after we get past the biology section of our notes," Kai assured her as they walked side by side out of the library, his bag swinging from his shoulder, "I know it seems a bit boring now but he's actually really good at teaching. Coming from me, that's saying a lot!"

As Jinora watched his lips she couldn't help but grin at the boy's enthusiasm, feeling completely at ease for the first time since she had moved to the Academy.

The librarian took a seat in her chair, watching as the two students exited the library.

Sometimes all it took was a push in the right direction to get people moving.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I had a number of people asking me to continue this, so here you go. I think this will just turn into a series of oneshots.

**Disclaimer: I don't own the "Legend of Korra" or its characters.**

* * *

><p>"Come on, Jin! There's nothing to be scared of."<p>

The 12-year-old girl stood her ground, not even budging when her friend tried to push her forwards. Digging the heels of her flats in the ground, Jinora was able to send Kai staggering back a few steps.

The boy groaned, rubbing a hand over his dark hair and planting it firmly at the back of his neck. He looked to the sky, asking the spirits to grant him patience when it came to his friend. That's what he got for being nice and inviting the new girl out.

Since Jinora was new in town and had never seen a haunted house in her life, Kai thought it would be nice to take her to see one since the kids their age really didn't go trick-or-treating on Halloween night. From what he knew of her, it didn't seem like she got out of her house much, so he hoped that maybe taking her somewhere would encourage her to branch out.

But with the annoyed pout on her face, he doubted they were going to get much of anywhere.

"Are you scared?" Jinora eyes narrowed at his question, her hip jutting out to the side as she placed a hand on top of it. Though she didn't speak, he could tell she was mentally asking 'What do you think?'

"Yeah," Kai nodded, crossing his arms over his chest as a chill ran through the night air. "That was probably a dumb question."

Jinora's brows rose, signaling that she thought so too.

"What if I promise to stay with you the entire time?" He asked, hoping that that would be enough to get her to walk through the house with him. The line was getting long and he knew that if they waited any longer they would be standing forever.

Jinora thought for a moment, a million unspoken emotions crossing her face in the span of a minute. Finally, after glancing at her friend's puppy dog eyes, there seemed to be resignation. Sighing, the girl crossed her arms tightly over her chest and started walking forward.

"Whoa!" Kai jumped in surprise, following quickly behind her, "I wasn't expecting you to give in so quickly!"

Noting that she didn't react to his words and mentally hitting himself over the fact that he thought that she would, the boy reached out a tanned hand, resting it on the fabric of her ruby sweater.

"Hey, if you really don't want to, I'm not going to force you to go in." Kai could see the look of fear that remained in her eyes even as she tried to put on a brave face. "I know it's probably scarier for you than it is for me."

Jinora sighed, getting sick of people treating her like a piece of glass just because of her condition. She could see the genuine concern in her friend's gaze though, so she let it slide.

Kai gulped at the look of determination that rested on her features after that.

Grabbing his wrist, Jinora pulled him along with her to the back of the line. Kai didn't question her actions, though the girl could see that he was nervous. He shifted his weight from side to side, pushing his hands deep within his coat pockets just to bring them out and rub them together and then repeat again.

She bumped her shoulder into his, hoping it would ease his tense stance but Kai remained jittery as ever. She was starting to chalk it up to excitement when he jumped as the ticket guy asked him how many tickets they needed.

"Uh two?" Kai spoke, making it sound more like a question than an answer. The ticket guy reached out for the money and presented him the ticket, ushering them in through the gate that led to the house.

Jinora tried to pass the boy the cash that her father had given her, but he ignored her offer.

"Maybe we shouldn't do this," Kai paused on the path, causing several people to walk around them as they entered the house. His companion's brows scrunched together her expression puzzled. "I mean you were scared and I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable."

Sure she had been nervous when they had been dropped off, but now more than anything she wanted to get it over with. She was smart enough to know what was real and what wasn't. She also wanted to show Kai that she could keep up with him regardless of her disability. The nerves were still there, but her determination was greater than any fear she had regarding the haunted house.

Kai, on the other hand, looked as though he was going to be sick.

"Maybe we should just come back next Halloween?" He suggested, pushing his hands into his coat pockets to keep them from shaking too much under her gaze.

Jinora shook her head though at his suggestion. He had brought her here and bought her tickets, they were going to walk through that haunted house if it was the last thing they do.

Grabbing for his wrist once again, the girl pulled him further up the path to the stone stairs that led to the porch of the house. Jinora pushed her way through until they were comfortably situated between a group of teenage boys and two small children and their father. Though she wasn't as scared as she was earlier, she still felt better standing between the two groups.

The door creaked as it was pushed open by the boys in front of her, a rush of cool air hitting her in the face as a musty smell entered her nostrils. As they walked through the doorway, Jinora could see Kai's eyes dart both ways as if already looking for some scary actor to jump out at them.

The hall they entered was dark, the lights dimmed to give it a more menacing look. A red liquid seeped from the tops of the wall, pooling on the floor and staining the carpet. Looking behind her, she noticed the frightened look on the children's faces but the trick had her laughing. Kai though, wasn't amused at all.

Shuffling awkwardly next to her, with his sweater sleeve still in her grasp, the boy jumped as a door down the hall suddenly opened, thousands of electronic bats flying over their heads. Some people screamed and some whooped in excitement. Kai did neither of those.

His face paled as his heart pounded harshly in an attempt to return to normal, his eyes avoiding Jinora's as she would probably make fun of him for his reaction. He was the one that had told her there was nothing to fear and here he was acting like a wuss. Clearing his throat a bit, Kai straightened his stance and pursed his lips. He was on the look out now.

They continued walking down the long hall, a few scarers jumping out at them as they passed. Kai tried his best to remain standing as a man dressed as a zombie bursted out from a door, metal bars separating him from the crowd, but his walking staggered a bit, his shoulder bumping into Jinora's who seemed completely unimpressed by it all.

Eventually they were presented with a spiral staircase that led up to the second floor. Kai could feel his heart drop the higher they went up, his eyes following the lines of the wall just in case there was a trick hiding there. Jinora continued to tug on his sleeve, her cold hand brushing against the warm skin of his. At least he wasn't having to walk through it alone.

When they reached the second floor, it looked a lot like the first one. A line of windows to what looked to be the outside world lined one wall and a set of bars ran along the other.

Kai decided watching the windows was probably his best bet after hearing the moaning and groaning coming from the other direction, but his heart nearly leaped out of his chest as a face appeared in the window and a pair of ghostly hands came up to bang against the glass.

"Wah!" A sound left his mouth that could only be described as anything less than manly. Jinora watched him jump from the corner of her eye, giggling a bit when she saw what had caused him to scare. Obviously he hadn't registered that the so called "windows" weren't actually leading to the outdoor world, but to another room that lay beyond the wall. At least he knew now.

Jinora continued walking on, ignoring the men that reached out for her from behind the bars. It really wasn't as scary as she had expected and for that she was glad.

As they reached the end of the hall where another staircase was settled, Jinora could feel Kai's hand slip into her grasp. Looking curiously down at their joined hands and then back up at him, she realized that he wasn't even aware of their hand holding. His gaze was trained on the hundreds of sleeping "bats" above, snoozing in the dim light.

Rolling her eyes, the girl pulled him forward into the darkness.

After a few more scares that even caused her to jump, the two middle schoolers made their way out into the cool, autumn air.

"Whoa," Kai said as he took in a deep breath, still trying to recover from the last zombie that had jumped out at them on their way out. "That was a little more scary than I thought it would be."

Jinora smiled and nodded slightly, still hyper aware of his hand in her own.

"Oh!" Kai jumped, finally looked down at their joined hands. Retracting his own quickly, the boy shoved it into his pocket as a blush colored his cheeks. "Sorry, Jin. I didn't mean to squeeze the life out of you."

The girl giggled, a light airy sound leaving her lips. Though the screams coming from the haunted house still rang in his ears, Kai couldn't help but chuckle along with her.

"Maybe we should of just gone trick-or-treating instead."

Jinora shrugged, secretly glad that they hadn't.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Another addition! I'm going to age them up soon so be ready for that. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!

* * *

><p>Kai tugged on his friend's hand, pulling her with him to the Cafeteria.<p>

"You've eaten in the library for a month, Jin. Come on, I want to introduce you to some people!"

The girl shook her head violently, trying desperately to pull Kai in the opposite direction. It was no use though, the boy was stuck on getting her to become more social.

"Your speech is getting better." Kai pointed out, dragging her past a set of lockers and giggling girls. "There's nothing to be nervous about!" When the boy passed holding on to the new girl's cardigan sleeve, Jinora could see the envy in the middle school girls' eyes. Their giggles soon turned to whispers, as the two students continued down the hall.

"Kai, please."

The boy stopped at the sound of her soft plea, releasing his grip on the fabric of her sweater. With her new found freedom, the girl brought her arms close to her chest, hugging a copy of "To Kill A Mockingbird." He could see the fear in her eyes.

"Jin," Kai spoke, wrapping a hand around the strap of his bag. "I promise I won't let anyone make fun of you."

"It's hard." Jinora murmured simply, eyes glaring down at the white tiled floor. She scuffed the edge of her flat, the noise never reaching her ear. "I don't like being around big groups of people. It's too hard to keep up with the conversation."

Every day it seemed like he was being introduced to a new side of his friend. Just recently, she had began speaking to him, which had brought about a completely different aspect of their friendship. She was quiet and attentive, but Kai had perceived her as someone who was confident beyond their disability. Hearing her voice fears of social interaction was completely new to him.

"You don't have to keep up with it all." The young boy reasoned, holding out his hand to hold her book. "Just come sit with us and see how you like it. If they're mean to you, we can sit in the library for the rest of the year."

Jinora pouted, staring at his hand. A few moments passed, the hall clearing out as students shuffled off for lunch.

Heaving a sigh, Jinora passed the boy her book.

"I promise, Jin." He repeated, falling into step beside her. "Don't worry, I happen to have a pretty tight group of friends. They will love you."

As it turned out, they did. It was just a little overwhelming. After sitting down with a large table of boys and being introduced by her friend, all the boys had practically swarmed her with a thousand interested questions.

"Do you know sign language?"

"Can you understand us?"

"Do you read lips?"

"Can you talk?"

"Guys," Kai held up a hand, noting the uncomfortable look set on Jinora's features. "Give her a moment. She can understand you, no need to ask so many questions."

Though she would never admit it due to the discomfort caused by the situation, Jinora was eternally grateful for her friend's defense.

The boys eventually got off the subject, talking about a multitude of different video games. They would act out a scene from a particular battle and start arguments with each other over what the proper strategy was to pass the level. Jinora expected Kai to jump in, but he seemed more interested in talking to her.

"So how's your book?"

A relaxed smile was elicited from the girl. "Good. I think it's my favorite."

"Huh," Kai huffed, munching on his sandwich. "You say that about every book."

"Because every new one I read becomes my favorite."

The boy shook his head, wiping a hand across his mouth. "You're something else."

Jinora chewed on a carrot stick, her dark eyes wandering to the rest of the tables lined up in the Cafeteria. There were several girls giving her mean glares, just like the ones in the hall had, but for the most part, people seemed to keep to themselves.

A boy walked over to their table, sitting down between the two seated across from her. Jinora could feel Kai tense at the new presence and quickly turned back to face him.

"So did you snatch the dough from Mrs. Han's room?"

Jinora's brows furrowed, eyes glancing over at Kai at the boy's question. It had been directed at him or at least she thought it had. Perhaps she had read the boy's lips incorrectly.

Kai shifted uncomfortably, a guilty look crossing his features as he tried to ignore the gaze that he knew was locked on him. "Uh, not yet."

"Come on, Kai," The boy urged, looking both ways before leaning in close. All the boys played along, copying the action and halting their conversations. "You know we need the cash for the smokes."

Jinora caught the words, growing increasingly confused as to what they were asking from her friend.

"I just got caught swiping money from the library a little while ago." Kai reasoned, a cold sweat breaking out across his forehead. His sandwich was now forgotten, he pulled at the collar of his shirt, the warmth growing uncomfortable as his friends leaned in closer. "I don't want to look suspicious."

"But you're the best at it!"

"You know Mrs. Han loves you!"

"She won't even know it's gone."

Kai shook his head, pushing back from the table. "No, guys. I can't get in trouble again. One more referral and I'm done for." The boy stood, grabbing Jinora's book and pulling her up along with him. "Come on, Jin. Lunch is almost over, let's see if we can finish up that science homework."

Both Kai and Jinora had finished their homework the night before, but Jinora said nothing regarding it as she was pulled from the lunchroom.

Instead of going to the library though, Kai led her to a bench in the courtyard. It was deserted besides a few students mulling around rather than eating lunch, but for the most part they were alone.

Jinora sat beside the boy on the bench, awkwardly placing her backpack on the ground beside his and coughing into her hand. For all the time she had known Kai, he had never been so quiet before. It was strange.

"I'm not a good kid." Kai remarked, glancing sideways at his companion, his forest green eyes shining apologetically. "You already knew that, right?"

Jinora shrugged, her eyes escaping his gaze in favor of staring at her scuffed up flats.

He shook her arm, wanting the girl to look at him.

"They want the money Mrs. Han keeps in a jar in her room for kids who forget their lunch." Kai shared, holding his hands up in exasperation. "Why I have to be the one to take it is beyond me. I don't know why they count on me to do stuff like that."

"You've stolen before." Jinora stated simply, remembering the first day they had met. She knew he was in trouble for something, but didn't know what. Now it all made a little more sense.

"They are just a bunch of guys trying to act older than they are." The boy ran a hand through his thick locks, the sun causing a layer of perspiration to pepper his brow. "I'm not like them though."

"But you are."

"No." Kai stated, shaking his head. "I don't act like they do."

"You don't now," Jinora rolled her head to the side, her brown eyes locking on his. "But you did, right?"

"Maybe."

"Not maybe." The girl grabbed her book, shoving it into her bag and zipping it back up. "You were in trouble the day I met you. Why?"

"For stealing."

"See," Jinora pointed out, keeping her voice low.

"But I changed."

Jinora's brow rose, his insistence piquing her curiosity.

"I've never really had a friend outside of them." The boy admitted awkwardly, shrugging his shoulders. "I had to play by their rules if I wanted to fit in. That's why I've liked hanging out with you so much, you don't expect those kind of things out of me."

While Jinora was flattered by his words, she was still iffy when it came to the boy's past. He had seemed like such a nice kid, surely he couldn't have been that bad.

The bell signaling the end of lunch rang out, the courtyard filling with students near instantly.

Seeing the people flood the courtyard, Jinora took the signal. Standing from the bench, the girl threw her backpack over her shoulder.

"I'll walk with you." Kai offered, leaning down to grab his bag. But when he stood up, the girl was already gone.


End file.
